Therapeutic heater



Patented Jan. 27, 1953 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE THERAPEUTIC HEATERRobert B. Duren, Oakland Park, Fla.

Application May 7, 1951, Serial No. 224,953

(Cl. 21S- 46) 1 Claim. l

This invention relates to a heating pad particularly designed to heatand warm the ligaments and muscles oi the back and spinal region.

The primary object of the invention is to provide a pad which is simple,inexpensive, easy to assemble upon the body, easy to operate and whichis provided with heating coils in the pad and a switch means outside thepad so electrically connected as to permit the pad to be usedselectively for generating two different degrees of heat, low and high.

rFhese, together with various ancillary objects and features of theinvention which will later become apparent as the following descriptionproceeds, are attained by the device, a preferred embodiment of whichhas been illustrated by way of example only in the accompanyingdrawings, wherein:

Figure i is a plan view ci the pad;

Figure 2 is a horizontal sectional View therethrough, some parts beingshown in elevation; and

Figure 3 is a sectional view taken on the line 3-3 of Figure 2.

Specific reference is now made to the drawings. In the several views ofthe accompanying drawings and. in the following specification referencecharacters indicate corresponding elements throughout.

The device comprises a substantially rectangular elongated pad itfabricated of a suitable cloth or textile material, such as wool,cotton, synthetic fibers, etc., and includes an upper layer l2 and lowerlayer le filled with a padding I6, such as cotton batting. Theperipheral or marginal edges of the layers are secured together as at I8by a channel shaped hem 2G. The bottom edge 22 of the pad carries a pairof -conventional buckle type straps 2d adapted to engage the thighs; theside edges 2S of the pad carry further buckle type straps 28 adjacentthe upper edge Bil adapted to engage the shoulders and the side edges ofthe pad intermediate the upper and lower edges further carry a buckletype strap 32 adapted to embrace the torso so that the pad can beremovably positioned on the back of a person.

Positioned in the pad and extending longitudinally thereof are heatingcoils 34, 36 and 38 wound about insulating cores 4t. A three way switch42 is provided which is adapted to connect with an electrical sourcesuch as a 6 Volt battery, a 6 volt transformer, etc. and is operativelyconnected to the coils in a manner to be set forth hereinafter. Thecoils 34 and 33 are connected in parallel and include one conductivewire 4i` connected to one switch terminal and another conductive orground wire 45 connected to another switch terminal.

The coils Se and 3B together with the wires 44 and l'e constitute thehigh heat circuit which is closed when the switch bridges the gapbetween the terminals securing the wires 44 and d5. The coil 36 is thelow heat coil which includes a conductive wire [i8 secured to theremaining terminal of the switch, the other end of the coil beingoperatively connected as at 59 to the conductive wire 455. Thus when theswitch closes the gap between the terminals securing the wires 46 and48, the coil 3E only is energized to produce a degree of heat lower thanthat produced by the coils 34 and 38 in parallel. It will be understoodthat the ends of the wires 44, 45 and 43 may be contained in aninsulating sheath or cable 52 extending through one side of the pad andthe length thereof may be su-ch as to allow the wearer of the pad tohave easy access to the switch 42 at all times.

In view of the foregoing description taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings, it is believed that a clear understanding of thedevice will be quite apparent to those skilled in this art. A moredetailed description is accordingly deemed unnecessary.

It is to be understood, however, that even though there is herein shownand described a preferred embodiment of the invention, the same issusceptible to certain changes fully comprehended by the spirit of theinvention as herein described and the scope of the appended claim.

Having described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

A body heating device comprising a substantially rectangular pad, a pairof spaced straps secured to each side of said pad adjacent the upper endthereof, the ends of each pair of straps being detachably securedtogether to provide shoulder engaging means, spaced straps secured tothe lower end of said pad adjacent the corners thereof, means on saidlast-mentioned straps to engage the thighs, straps secured to the sidesof said pad intermediate the ends thereof for embracing the torso,electrical heating means in said pad, said electrical heating meansincluding coils in said pad and switch means operatively connected tosaid coils and to a source of current for selectively energizing saidcoils to produce low and high heat, said switch means being a threewayswitch, said coils being three in number, two connected in parallel andincluding conductive wires secured to two switch terminals andconstituting the high heat circuit while the other coil includes a,conductive wire secured to the remaining terminal of said switch and afurther conductive Wire secured to one of the conductive wiresoperatively connected to the other two coils and constituting the lowheat circuit.

ROBERT B. DUREN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number.

Number Name Date Newell Feb. 27, 1923 Donle Apr. 20, 1926 Graham et alNov. 19, 1929 MacSweeney Oct. 2, 1934 Strezoft Apr. 19, 1949 DAlboraFeb. 28, 1950 Goudsmit Dec. 18, 1951 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date ItalyNov. 23, 1938

